Inflatable intraluminal molding device

ABSTRACT

An intraluminal device has an elongated body member having a series of independent inflatable sections along its length. At least one inflating/deflating line extends from each inflatable section to a distal end of the body member. The device may be used for positing, isolating or identifying a lumen by giving shape to a collapsed viscus. The device may also be used to visualize intraluminal structure or control pressure within a hollow viscus from within the hollow viscus.

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/073,902 entitled “Inflatable IntraluminalMolding Device”, filed Feb. 6, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] I, Biagio Ravo, have invented a surgical and diagnostic devicewhich relates to an inflatable intraluminal molding device forpositioning, isolating and/or identifying relevant segments of a hollowviscous during surgical or diagnostic procedures.

[0004] 2. Background Information

[0005] During operations on any hollow viscus, such as colorectalsurgery, gastrointestinal surgery, urological or biliary surgery, it isoften necessary to position, isolate and/or identify relevant segmentsof the hollow viscus being operated upon. It would be additionallyadvantageous to perform the positioning, isolation and/or identifyingprocedure from internally of the hollow viscus.

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide an inflatableintraluminal surgical device for positioning, isolation and/oridentification of the hollow viscus for use internally of the hollowviscus to give shape to the collapsed viscus by acquiring its distendedform. A further object of the present invention is to provide anintraluminal surgical and diagnostic device independently operable atseveral locations within a hollow viscus. Another object of the presentinvention is to provide a device to maintain the lumen of the hollowviscus clear of fluid and/or air. A further object of the presentinvention is to provide a device which can assist in identifyingperforations or leaks in a hollow viscus, assist in visualizingintraluminal structure and control pressure within an internal viscus. Afurther object of the present invention is to provide an intraluminalsurgical and diagnostic device which is easy to manufacture and simpleto use and operate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The objects of the present invention are achieved with aninflatable intraluminal surgical device according to the presentinvention. The surgical device according to the present inventionincludes an elongated body member with a plurality of independentinflatable balloon sections extending along the length of the bodymember, and a mechanism for independently inflating each individualballoon section along the length of the body member.

[0008] The elongated body member may be in the form of a sleeve which isadapted to fit over an existing scope and/or suction tube. Themechanisms for individually inflating the specific balloon sections maybe formed as individual air/fluid lines extending from each balloonsection along the body member to a distal end of the body member. Theindividual balloon sections may be formed such that they conform to thespecific anatomical structure when inflated. One or more suction tubesand/or optical scopes may be positioned at various locations along thebody member between adjacent balloon sections. Leads from the individualscopes and suction tubes will extend along the body member to the distalend of the device for appropriate connection to a suction source orvideo display equipment as known in the art. The suction tubes may alsobe used to supply medicine or irrigation fluid to selected portions ofthe hollow viscus.

[0009] These and other advantages of the present invention will beclarified in the brief description of the preferred embodiments takentogether with the attached figures wherein like reference numeralsrepresent like elements throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an inflatable intraluminalsurgical device according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0011]FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an inflatable intraluminalsurgical device according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention; and

[0012]FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an inflatable intraluminalsurgical device according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013]FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an inflatable intraluminalsurgical and diagnostic device 10 according to the present invention.The surgical device 10 includes an elongated body member formed as asleeve 12. Along the length of the sleeve 12 are a plurality ofindependent balloon sections 14. Individual air lines 16 extend fromeach balloon section 14 along the sleeve 12 to the distal control end ofthe device 10. The individual air lines 16 may be color coded, numberedor include other appropriate indicia to indicate which specific balloonsection 14 along the length of sleeve 12 the specific airline 16 isassociated with.

[0014] The sleeve 12 is adapted to fit around an existing suction tubeand scope member 20. The leading end of the sleeve 12 may includeappropriate conventional connecting mechanisms to attach the leading endof the sleeve 12 to the leading end of the suction tube and scope member20 in the position generally shown in FIG. 1.

[0015] In operation, the surgical device 10 is positioned on the suctiontube and scope member 20 by sliding sleeve 12 along the suction tube andscope member 20 and attaching the leading end of the sleeve 12 to aleading end of the suction tube and scope member 20 through a connectingmechanism. The surgical device 10, along with the existing suction tubeand scope member 20, can be inserted into the specific hollow viscus,such as the colon. With the surgical device 10 inserted into the colon,a desired segment of the colon can be isolated by inflating the specificballoon section 14 associated with that segment. The balloon section 14can be inflated with air and/or fluid injected through the appropriateair line 16. The injection may be through the use of a syringe or anyappropriate inflation device. The balloon sections 14 may also bedeflated through use of air lines 16. The inflated balloon section 14will conform to the colon section and will expand the colon sectionserving to isolate and identify the specific section. The segmentassociated with the inflated balloon section 14 (one of which is shownin phantom in FIG. 1) can be easily identified and positioned from theexterior for appropriate operations. The surgical device 10 may beutilized for isolating a section of a hollow viscus to be operated upon,such as a section of colon to be resected, which is between a pair ofinflated, spaced balloon sections 14 along the surgical device 10. Thesurgical device 10 may also be used to control bleeding along the lengthof a hollow viscus. There are many independent applications for thesurgical device 10 of the present invention.

[0016]FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a surgical device 30 according toa second embodiment of the present invention. The surgical device 30 issimilar to the surgical device 10 and includes a body member 32 with aplurality of independently inflatable/deflatable balloon sections 34along the length of body member 32. Individual air lines 36 extend fromeach balloon section 34 along the body member 32. The surgical device 30additionally includes suction tubes 38 extending from the leading end ofthe body member 32 and also positioned between adjacent balloon sections34. The surgical device 30 further includes optical fibers 40 extendingfrom the leading end of the body member 32 and also positioned betweenadjacent balloon sections 34. The optical fibers 40 between adjacentballoon sections 34 are illustrated extending in opposite directionsrelative to the body member 32 to provide a comprehensive view to thesurgeon, or operator. The air lines 36, suction tubes 38 and opticalfibers 42 extend along the body member 32 to an external control panel42. The control panel 42 allows the specific air lines 36, suction tubes38 or optical fibers 40 to be accessed as desired.

[0017] In operation, the surgical device 30 operates similar to thesurgical device 10 above with the surgical device 30 inserted into anappropriate hollow viscus, such as a colon, gastrointestinal track orthe like. The specific balloon section 34, or plurality of balloonsections 34, can be independently inflated and deflated by accessing theassociated air line 36 on control panel 42. As discussed above, theballoon section 34 can be filled with air through air line 36 or fluid,such as saline or the like, through air line 36. Additionally, suctiontubes 38 allow for specific sections along the length of the surgicaldevice 30 to be suctioned or for medication or other fluid to beintroduced to specific sections along the length of the surgical device30. For example, a pair of spaced balloon sections 34 may be inflated toisolate a colon section therebetween which is to be filled with aspecific liquid applied through appropriate suction tube 38. The surgeoncan view the desired location along the surgical device 30 by connectingthe appropriate optical fibers 40 to visual equipment throughconnections to control panel 42 in a known manner. As discussed above inconnection with surgical device 10, there are many applications, bothsurgical and diagnostic, for the surgical device 30 of the presentinvention.

[0018]FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a surgical device 50 according toa third embodiment of the present invention. Surgical device 50 issubstantially similar to surgical devices 10 and 30 described above andincludes an elongated body member 52 with a plurality of spaced balloonsections 54 along the length thereof. Individual air lines 56 extend tothese individual balloon sections 54 along the body member 52 insubstantially the same manner discussed above in connection withsurgical devices 10 and 30. The surgical device 50 is illustrated with asuction tube 58 and an optical fiber 60 extending to the end of thesurgical device 50 and may further include suction tubes and opticalfibers with the air lines 56 and suction tubes and optical fibersattached to a control panel similar to that discussed above inconnection with surgical device 30. The surgical device 50 is designedfor a gastrointestinal operation and illustrates that the specificballoon sections 54, when inflated, are designed to conform to thespecific anatomical structure. As discussed above, the surgical device50 of the present invention can be utilized in a wide variety ofprocedures, both surgical and diagnostic. The device 50 can maintain thedesired size and intraluminal pressure on the esophagus eliminatingother tubes and dilators currently used.

[0019] Any of the devices 10, 30 and 50 of my invention can be used tohelp identify lumen perforations, isolate lumen segments, control lumenpressure, control and prevent bleeding into the lumen, medicate and/orsuction selected portions, of the lumen, visualize inner lumen structureand a variety of other applications. Further, it would be apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications may bemade to the present invention without departing from the spirit andscope thereof. For example, the devices 10, 30 or 50 may be used with areusable light source to assist the operation. The scope of the presentinvention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereto.

1. An Intraluminal device comprising: an elongated body member, theelongated body member having a plurality of independent inflatablesections along the length of the body member; and means forindependently inflating each individual inflatable section.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1 wherein the body member is a sleeve which is adaptedto fit over an existing intraluminal tool
 3. The device of claim 2wherein the means for independently inflating each inflatable sectionincludes individual fluid lines extending from each inflatable sectionto a distal end of the body member.
 4. The device of claim 3 furtherincluding at least one tube positioned between adjacent inflatablesections and extending to a distal end of the body member, wherein thetube is adapted to be selectively attached to a suction source or afluid supply source.
 5. The device of claim 4 further including at leastone optical scope positioned between adjacent inflatable sections andextending to a distal end of the body member.
 6. The device of claim 1wherein the means for independently inflating each inflatable sectionincludes individual fluid lines extending from each inflatable sectionto a distal end of the body member.
 7. The device of claim 6 furtherincluding at least one tube positioned between adjacent inflatablesections and extending to a distal end of the body member, wherein thetube is adapted to be selectively attached to a suction source or afluid supply source.
 8. The device of claim 7 further including at leastone optical scope positioned between adjacent inflatable sections andextending to a distal end of the body member.
 9. The device of claim 8further including a control panel, wherein each fluid line, tube andoptical scope is attached to the control panel.
 10. The device of claim1 further including at least one tube positioned between adjacentinflatable sections and extending to a distal end of the body member,wherein the tube is adapted to be selectively attached to a suctionsource or a fluid supply source.
 11. The device of claim 1 furtherincluding at least one optical scope positioned between adjacentinflatable sections and extending to a distal end of the body member.12. The device of claim 1 wherein individual inflatable sections areadapted to conform to specific anatomical structures.
 13. The device ofclaim 1 wherein each inflatable section is generally a cylindricalshape.
 14. A method of manipulating a lumen during surgical ordiagnostic procedures comprising the steps of: inserting a body memberhaving a plurality of independent inflatable sections into the lumen;and selectively inflating independent sections of the body member tomanipulate the lumen.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein at least onetube is provided between adjacent inflatable sections and furthercomprising the step of supplying a medium through the tube to the lumenbetween inflated balloon sections.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein atleast one tube is provided between adjacent inflatable sections andfurther comprising the step of providing suction to the lumen throughthe tube.
 17. The method of claim 14 wherein at least one scope isprovided between adjacent inflatable sections and further comprising thestep of inspecting the lumen through the scope.
 18. An intraluminalsurgical and diagnostic device comprising: an intraluminal body memberhaving as series of independently inflatable/deflatable balloon sectionsalong the length of the body member; and at least oneinflating/deflating line extending along the body member from eachballoon section to a distal end of the body member.
 19. The device ofclaim 18 further including a suction tube extending from a leading endof the body member to the distal end of the body member.
 20. The deviceof claim 19 further including at least one tube extending from betweenadjacent balloon sections to the distal end of the body member.